OK, so I was out running errands with the girl on Sunday morning—picking up items for her still-under-construction doll house, a planter and some soil so she could she could plant some tulip and daffodil bulbs and a composition book for school—when we stopped in Tie Dye 4 Bakery on Main Street in historic downtown Duluth near the Town Green for a little something to eat.
A plate of three donuts at Tie Dye 4 in Duluth, Ga.: a cherry-filled Bismark, a raised, glazed dipped in chocolate with coconut, and a French glazed.
The place—located in a 100-year-old building a few doors down from Steverino’s Pizza and across the street from the new Pure Taqueria—had been in business as a tie-dye studio for about a year and a half, but in the last six months, has added a bakery operation in the front of the space. This is what we came for: to dress up a few naked donuts for breakfast.
Tie Dye 4’s “thing” is serving up fresh, hot yeast-raised ring donuts they call “naked”; that is to say glazed but without any toppings. It’s up to you do decide how to dress it up, if you’d like.
The donuts sell for $1 for a naked one, $5 for half dozen and $10 for a dozen. Then, to finish them to suit your own particular tastes, you can have each dipped and sprinkled ($1.25; 25 c for each additional topping). The dips are milk and white chocolate or a strawberry glaze, and the toppings run the gamut from candied sprinkles to nuts to crumbled cookie (Oreo and Famous Amos) and candy bar (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, York Peppermint Patties, M&Ms) pieces.
 A display showing various options for donut dips and sprinkles. |
 Some of the different brownies available at Tie Dye 4. |
Another option is something Tie Dye 4 calls a Bismark but is what I have always known as simply a “filled” donut. The Bismarks ($2 each) can be filled with several fruit jellies and preserves or Bavarian, Boston or Chocolate creams.
After several minutes’ contemplation, she made her selection—a naked dressed in chocolate with coconut—and I went with a cherry-filled Bismark. We added a French glazed to split, along with a cup of coffee for me and a glass of milk for her, and we were set. All that was left was to watch the counter guy complete the order by doing the actual dressing-up of the donuts. A dip here, a sprinkle there, a little squeeze with the jelly bag and voilà—breakfast!
The Bismark was light and the jelly seemed to be of high quality, without that metallic finish some cheaper jellies have. The French glaze was really good, but I can’t put into words exactly why. The girl deemed her donut “yummy!” When pressed, she said the chocolate was soft and tasted a little more like dark chocolate than milk, and she also thought the shaved coconut was “fresh.” Regardless, all three received as many thumbs up as we could provide.
 The counter guy “dressing up” a donut. |
 The interior of Tie Dye 4. |
 The tie dye party room. |
 The exterior of Tie Dye 4. |
Now, Tie Dye 4 is not just a donut shop; you can get all kinds of various pastries, Danishes ($2.75), brownies ($2), cookies ($1 for one, half-dozen for $5 and $10 for a dozen), cakes (slices $2-$5, whole $15-$20), cheesecakes (slices $2-5, $20 whole) and pies ($1-$3 slices, $15 whole). And if you come by during lunchtime, you can get a sandwich on fresh-baked croissant ($6.5).
Tie Dye 4 Bakery hours are Monday-Wednesday, 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Thursday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m.; and Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Also, when there are shows at the nearby Red Clay Theatre or the New Dawn Theater, the shop will stay open afterhours to accommodate the post-show crowds’ need for sweets.
Tie Dye 4 Bakery
3107-C Main Street
Duluth, Ga. 30096
678.235.5322
Post by and photos credited to Gregory Watkins.